Cardano’s Chang Upgrade Boosts Decentralization

Cardano Achieves Major Milestone with Chang Hard Fork

The Cardano blockchain recently reached a significant milestone with the successful implementation of the Chang hard fork. This upgrade is particularly noteworthy as it positions Cardano as one of the first major blockchain networks to adopt a token-based governance system, marking a new era in its development.

Hoskinson: Cardano Surpasses Bitcoin in Decentralization

Charles Hoskinson, CEO of Cardano, celebrated this achievement, claiming that the upgrade elevates Cardano above Bitcoin in terms of decentralization. In a recent social media post, Hoskinson emphasized the magnitude of this upgrade, describing it as "one of the greatest technological achievements in human history."

Hoskinson highlighted the vast scale of the distributed system, which operates across more than 100 countries without central coordination. This seamless upgrade affects millions of users who have never met, demonstrating the unique and powerful nature of the Cardano network. He stated:

"This dwarfs Bitcoin. It's unique, and books will be written about what has happened. Cardano is now a governance virus that is living, self-replicating, and self-sustaining. It has intelligence and a will to survive and grow. Nothing can shut it down. Nothing can stop its growth."

The Chang Hard Fork: A Step Toward True Decentralization

The Chang hard fork was executed on block number 10764778, introducing the "Conway ledger era." This development is part of Cardano's broader initiative to enhance its governance through the Voltaire phase. One of the key features of this upgrade is the transformation of the governance model, which now allows every ADA holder to submit proposals and participate in decision-making processes.

The Cardano Foundation praised this shift, stating that the Chang hard fork marks a significant milestone for the Cardano blockchain, ecosystem, and community—fulfilling the promise of a truly self-governing, decentralized network.

Technical Advancements and Challenges

From a technical standpoint, the hard fork activated Plutus v3, which introduces advanced cryptographic capabilities, including efficient zero-knowledge proofs and versatile on-chain computations. These upgrades involve transaction signature validation using the Blake2b-224 hash function and Ethereum signature verification via the Keccak-256 hash function, promoting better cross-chain interoperability.

In addition, the update enhances smart contract performance by introducing "sums of products" encoding, leading to smaller scripts and up to 30% faster execution times. However, despite the successful deployment of these advancements, the hard fork encountered a technical issue related to ledger state snapshots.

This glitch required a hotfix to address prolonged synchronization times when nodes restart. Nodes that restarted within 14 hours of the hard fork were unaffected, while those that restarted later would need to replay from the genesis block. A hotfix, labeled as node version 9.1.1, is currently being prepared for release.

Market Reaction and Future Outlook

Despite the successful implementation of the Chang upgrade, the market reaction has been lukewarm, with ADA's price experiencing a decline amid a broader market downtrend. This suggests that while the technical achievements are significant, they have not yet translated into immediate bullish sentiment among investors.

As Cardano continues to evolve, the focus will likely remain on how these technological advancements influence the network's long-term growth and adoption. With its innovative governance model and ongoing technical improvements, Cardano is poised to play a leading role in the future of decentralized networks.